Finland names new leader in bid to restore political harmony

A FORMER journalist and EU specialist was named as Finland’s new prime minister yesterday, replacing the first woman to hold to post after only two months when she was toppled by a leaked document scandal.

Parliament voted 109-67 for the Centre Party's Matti Vanhanen in a widely expected move, as Finland tried to restore political harmony after a scandal that embarrassed a nation that prizes itself on its squeaky-clean politics.

"It has been an exceptional situation and a dramatic day," a calm and soft-spoken Mr Vanhanen, defence minister in the last short-lived administration, told reporters after the vote.

"For its part, the Centre will give its all so that the cooperation between the three parties in the coalition government goes well," the 47-year-old said.

Mr Vanhanen fills the vacuum left by Anneli Jaatteenmaki, who stepped down as head of the European Union-member nation of 5.2 million people last week amid allegations she used secret leaked information on Iraq to help win elections in March.

His nomination was confirmed by President Tarja Halonen later yesterday, when Mr Vanhanen will also name his new cabinet.

The new government will likely still be a coalition of the Centre, Finland's largest party, the Social Democrats (SDP) and the Swedish People's Party (RKP), which represents the country's Swedish-speaking minority.

The SDP, pushed into second place in the March election, said it would put the Jaatteenmaki scandal behind it. "Now it is time for reconciliation and cooperation and the Social Democrats are ready," said Mr Jaatteenmaki's predecessor Paavo Lipponen, now parliamentary speaker.

Mr Vanhanen emerged as the favourite for prime minister after Ms Jaatteenmaki's resignation, and may also follow her as head of the party after she gave up the position on Tuesday.

A teetotaller who hails from the Centre Party heartland of Jyvaskyla in central Finland, Mr Vanhanen is seen by some as the right person for the job, with his seemingly bland political personality an asset given the current turbulent circumstances.

His first task will be to repair the damage done by Ms Jaatteenmaki, whose departure ended the shortest government tenure for almost 60 years in a country renowned for its technological prowess, as home to mobile phone giant Nokia.